Apparatus for securing an article in a two-wheel vehicle

ABSTRACT

A helmet or similar article is attached to the body of a two wheel vehicle by hooking its buckle on a hook member on the body of the vehicle. The hook member is positioned on the body so as to be covered by a pivotable seat when the latter is lowered to operative position so that removal of the helmet is prevented. A lockable engaging means is provided between the seat and vehicle body. In order to prevent unhooking of the article from the hook member when the seat is lowered, a projection is formed in the lower surface of the seat to close any gap which might be formed or alternatively, a recess is formed in the seat in which the hook member is received.

[451 Dec. 18, 1973 1 APPARATUS FOR SECURING AN ARTICLE IN A TWO-WHEELVEHICLE [75] Inventor: Masaaki Uchida,Tokorozawa,

Japan,

[73] Assignee: Honda Giken Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha, Tokyo, Japan [22]Filed: Mar. 16, 1972 [21] Appl. No.: 235,363

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data 224/29 D, 42.45 B, 42.46 B, 42;280/226, 227, 202; 296/63, 69, 37; 248/203; 211/8, 9, 4; 297/192, 195;24/241 PP, 241 P, 241 SB References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 7/1956Klaue 180/35 Eutzler 21 H4 X Boudouris 248/203 Primary Examiner-GeraldM. Forlenza Assistant Examiner.lerold M. Forsberg Attorney-Eric H.Waters et al.

[ 5 7 ABSTRACT A helmet or similar article is attached to the body of atwo wheel vehicle by hooking its buckle on a hook member on the body ofthe vehicle. The hook member is positioned on the body so as to becovered by a pivotable seat when the latter is lowered to operativeposition so that removal of the helmet is prevented. A lockable engagingmeans is provided between the seat and vehicle body. In order to preventunhooking of the article from the hook member when the seat is lowered,a projection is formed in the lower surface of the seat to close any gapwhich might be formed or alternatively, a recess is formed in the seatin which the hook member is received. I

5 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures SHEET 10F 2 PATENIEI] DEC 18 I973 APPARATUSFOR SECURING AN ARTICLE IN A TWO-WHEEL VEHICLE BRIEF SUMMARY OF THEINVENTION This invention relates to an article engagingapparatus in atwo-wheel vehicle wherein an article such as a helmet or the like can beengaged with the vehicle body.

According to the invention, the apparatus comprises a vehicle body, aseat turnably attached at one, side edge thereof to the vehicle body, anengaging apparatus having a lock and including one portion on thevehicle body and a second portion on the other side edge of the seat,and a hook member secured to the vehicle body for hooking an article.

According to a feature of the invention, the foregoing apparatusincludes a means for preventing unhooking of an article from the hookmember, the latter means being formed at the bottom surface of the seatso that when the seat is brought down, the means faces the hook memberto prevent the article from being unhooked therefrom.

The hook member comprises one hook provided at the front part of thevehicle body and a second hook may be additionally provided on the rearpart of the body. The means for preventing unhooking of the article maycomprise a projection of elastic material at the bottom surface of theseat or a concave surface in the bottom surface of the seat.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a fragmental perspective viewof a twowheel vehicle in which theseat is raised and one embodimentaccording to this invention is visible;

FIG. 2 is a transverse sectional view of the apparatus in FIG. 1 withthe seat lowered; and

FIG. 3 is a fragmental sectional view on enlarged scale showing anotherembodiment of the invention in the condition in which the seat islowered.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, numeral 1 denotes avehicle body of a two-wheel such as a motorcycle and nu- 'meral 2denotes a fuel tank thereof. Behind the fuel tank 2 there is found inbody 1 a housing section 3 for accommodating a tool box 4, a storatebattery 5 etc. A seat 7 is pivotably attached at one side thereof byhinge members 6 to one side of the upper portion of the vehicle body 1so that the seat can be lowered to cover the open portion of the housingsection 3 or be raised to uncover the same.

A male member 8 and a female member 9 of an engaging apparatus areprovided at the other side upper portion of the vehicle body 1 and theother side edge of the seat 7, respectively. These male and femalemembers 8, 9 are engageable with one another when the seat 7 is loweredfor engagement with the vehicle body 1. The male member 8 incorporates alock 8 for advancing and retracting a pin 8" adapted for checkingmovement of the female member. The female member 9 has a release lever9.

Elastic elements 10 and 11 made of rubber, synthetic resin or the like.are adhered to the center portion and the rear portion, respectively,-ofthe bottom surface of the seat 7, and these are arranged to be broughtinto contact with the vehicle body when the seat 7 is lowered so as toprovide a resilient support for the seat 7.

Numeral l7 denotes a spring for pushing the seat 7 upwards.

A hook member 14 for hooking a buckle 13 of an article such as a helmet12 is secured to the upper side edge portion of the vehicle body 1.

Accordingly, when the engagement between the male and female members 8,9 of the engaging and locking apparatus is released by the operation ofthe release lever 9', the seat 7 is slightly lifted by the action of thespring 17, so that the seat 7 can be easily raised as shown in FIG. 1 byinserting a hand below the seat 7. If, after the buckle 13 of the helmet12 is hooked on the hook member 14, the seat 7 is lowered and the en- 1gaging apparatus is locked, the hook member 14 is covered by the seat 7and there is not sufficient room to insert a hand below the seat 7 sothat the buckle 13 cannot be unhooked from the hook member 14. Thereby,the helmet 12 is secured in a position which is resistant to theft. I

If, however, there is a gap between the upper surface of the hook member14 and the lower surface of the seat 7, the buckle 13 can be unhookedfrom the hook member 14 through this gap and thus the resistance totheft of the helmet 12 is not sufiicient.

According to a further feature ofthis invention this is obviated by theprovision of a projection 15 of elastic material on the bottom surfaceof the seat 7 facing the hook member 14, so that when the seat 7 islowered as shown in FIG. 2 the projection 15 is brought into contactwith the upper surface of the hook member 14 to close the foregoing gapwhereby the projection 15 serves as a means to prevent unhooking of thehook member 14. 1

It is not always necessary for the projection 15 to be employed and theelastic elements 10, 11 or the like may also be used for this purpose.

In the illustrated embodiment, an additional hook member 14' is providedat the rear part of the vehicle body so that a helmet or the like canalso be hooked thereon.

In another embodiment of this invention as illustrated in FIG. 3, aconcave or recessed portion 16 is formed in the bottom surface of theseat 7 instead of the projection 15 in the foregoing embodiment. Whenthe seat 7 is lowered, the concave'portion 16 covers the upper surfaceof the hook member 14 so that there is formed an irregular or tortouspath between the hook member 14 and the concave portion 16 forpreventing the buckle 13 of the helmet 12 from being unhooked. In thiscase, the side wall of the concave portion 16 serves as a stop for thehook member 14 so to prevent the hook member 14 from being bent orbroken even if a large force is applied to the hook member 14 byforcedly pulling on the helmet 12.

Thus, according to this invention, an article such as a helmet can beeasily hooked on the vehicle body by means of the hook member securedto, the Vehicle body, and this article can be rendered theft resistantby lowering the seat turnably altached to the vehicle body whileadditional theft resistance can be provided by the means for preventingunhooking of the buckle of the helmet from the hook member.Additionally, the seat can also be used for safe storage of articleshoused in the vehicle body.

Since the article is hung at the side surface of the vehicle body, whena safety device such as a helmet is hooked, the driver is required,before driving the vehicle, to remove the safety device and wear thesame. The apparatus is thus effective as a safety measure.

What is claimed is:

1. Apparatus for hooking an article on a two-wheel vehicle, saidapparatus comprising a vehicle body, a seat pivotably attached at oneside thereof to the vehicle body for movement between a raisedinoperative position and a lowered operative position, said body beingprovided with a recess adapted for storage purposes, said seat coveringsaid recess when lowered, engaging means including lock means providedon the vehicle body and the other side edge of the seat for locking theseat to the vehicle body when the seat is lowered, a hook member securedto the vehicle body for hooking an article thereon, said hook memberbeing positioned on the body so as to locate said article in a positionin which it interferes with seating of an operator on the seat of thevehicle, the hook member being covered by said seat when the latter islowered to prevent removal of the article, and means at the bottomsurface of the seat facing the hook member when the seat is lowered forpreventing unhooking of the article.

2. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein said hook member is locatedat the front part of the vehicle body and further comprising a secondhook member on the rear part of the vehicle body.

3. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein said means for preventingunhooking of the article comprises a projection of elastic material onthe bottom surface of the seat.

4. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein said means for preventingunhooking of the article comprises a concave portion at the bottomsurface of the seat covering said hook member when the seat is lowered.

5. Apparatus as claimed in claim 4 wherein said concave portion includesside walls embracing said hook member to form a tortous path therewith.

1. Apparatus for hooking an article on a two-wheel vehicle, saidapparatus comprising a vehicle body, a seat pIvotably attached at oneside thereof to the vehicle body for movement between a raisedinoperative position and a lowered operative position, said body beingprovided with a recess adapted for storage purposes, said seat coveringsaid recess when lowered, engaging means including lock means providedon the vehicle body and the other side edge of the seat for locking theseat to the vehicle body when the seat is lowered, a hook member securedto the vehicle body for hooking an article thereon, said hook memberbeing positioned on the body so as to locate said article in a positionin which it interferes with seating of an operator on the seat of thevehicle, the hook member being covered by said seat when the latter islowered to prevent removal of the article, and means at the bottomsurface of the seat facing the hook member when the seat is lowered forpreventing unhooking of the article.
 2. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1,wherein said hook member is located at the front part of the vehiclebody and further comprising a second hook member on the rear part of thevehicle body.
 3. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein said means forpreventing unhooking of the article comprises a projection of elasticmaterial on the bottom surface of the seat.
 4. Apparatus as claimed inclaim 1, wherein said means for preventing unhooking of the articlecomprises a concave portion at the bottom surface of the seat coveringsaid hook member when the seat is lowered.
 5. Apparatus as claimed inclaim 4 wherein said concave portion includes side walls embracing saidhook member to form a tortous path therewith.